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SEMI-CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE 


BEFORE  THE 


itassacljusetts  i)omc  iUisGicmavij  Society, 


MAY  29,  1849.  ' 


BY  RICHARD  S.  STORRS,  D.  D. 


Man's  Duty,  in  Relation  to  the  Lord’s  Work. 


A 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS  HOME  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY, 


IN  BOSTON,  MAY  29,  1849. 


BY  RICHARD  S.  STORRS,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  First  Church.  Braintree. 


yublisljrt  bg  ortirr  of  tfte  isitcutibt  ffiommittre. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MARVIN,  24  CONGRESS  STREET. 
18  49 


■ 


DISCOURSE. 


ACTS  ix.  6. 

LORD,  WHAT  WILT  THOU  HAVE  ME  TO  DO  ? 

The  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  whether  we  regard 
its  attendant  circumstances,  or  its  immediate  and  remote 
effects  on  the  course  of  the  church  and  the  world,  is  an 
event  of  surpassing  interest.  Jealous  of  the  honor  of  his 
ancestral  religion,  breathing  out  threatening  and  slaughter, 
and  hurrying  on  to  scenes  of  anticipated  triumph  over  the 
defenceless  disciples  of  Jesus,  he  is  suddenly  arrested  by 
a brilliant  light  from  heaven,  and  an  unearthly  voice  of 
tender  remonstrance.  Overwhelmed  by  the  vision,  he 
falls  to  the  earth.  The  power  of  the  Highest  subdues 
and  transforms  him.  His  spiritual  eye  enlightened,  and 
his  heart  changed,  his  life  takes  a new  direction  ; the 
church  rejoices  in  a fresh  auxiliary  to  her  works  of  faith 
and  labors  of  love  ; and  the  wide  world  thenceforth  be- 
comes the  object  of  his  solicitude,  and  the  theatre  of  his 
hallowed  toils  and  conflicts. 

The  elements  of  this  great  event  enter  into  every 
instance  of  conversion  over  which  the  angels  of  heaven 
rejoice.  It  has  God  for  its  author,  truth  for  its  instru- 
ment, and  the  turning  of  the  strong  current  of  man’s 
thoughts,  emotions  and  movements  from  the  carnal  to 
the  spiritual,  for  its  effect. 


4 


“ Trembling  and  astonished,”  Paul’s  heart  prompts  the 
inquiry,  “ Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ? ” thus 
revealing  the  first  convictions  and  resolves  of  every  reno- 
vated man  ; it  is  the  spontaneous  and  uniform  expression 
of  piety,  whether  new  born  or  matured.  We  are  now 
concerned,  however,  only  with  a single  topic  of  instruc- 
tion, suggested  by  the  text,  viz  : 

God  has  a work  to  be  done  by  man. 

Powerless  and  dependent  as  we  are,  unable  to  retain 
our  lives  or  direct  our  steps  by  wisdom  of  our  own,  it  is 
an  undeserved  honor  to  be  admitted  into  the  field  of 
God’s  highest  labors,  and  made  sharers  of  the  toils  in- 
volved in  securing  the  noblest  ends  of  an  intelligent 
existence. 

Whatever  God  would  accomplish  in  this  world,  he 
might  clearly  bring  to  pass,  by  that  simple  energy  of  Will, 
that  speaks,  and  it  is  done — or,  commands,  and  it  stands 
fast.  Had  it  been  God’s  pleasure,  who  dare  say,  that  man 
might  not  have  lived  without  carefulness — the  fields  sup- 
plying him  food,  the  skies  dropping  honey  as  the 
dew,  the  fowls  of  the  air,  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  every 
living  thing  contributing  to  his  comfort,  leaving  no  de- 
mand to  be  enforced  on  his  physical  energies,  nor  the 
ennui  of  the  sluggard  to  be  relieved  by  unfitting  indul- 
gence ? So,  in  the  arrangements  of  the  moral  world, 
who  dare  say,  that  man  might  not  have  been  exempted 
from  the  necessity  of  ceaseless  intellectual  and  spiritual 
discipline,  of  untiring  resistance  to  the  downward  tenden- 
cies of  society,  and  constant  effort  to  elevate  the  world  to 
its  destined  condition  of  purity  and  love  ? If  we  look  to 
the  power  of  God  alone,  all  this  is  obviously  possible. 
But  Infinite  Wisdom  has  determined,  after  having  incor- 
porated the  indestructible  elements  of  activity  in  man’s 
constitution,  that  they  have  scope  for  their  development  j 
that  he  be  placed  in  circumstances  where  happiness  and 
labor  are  identified  ; where  all  the  faculties  gather 


6 


strength  by  judicious  exercise  ; and  where  assimilation 
to  God  is  proportioned  to  the  constancy  of  active  obe- 
dience. 

That  God  has  a work  for  man  to  do  in  his  relations  to 
the  material  world,  will  not  however  be  questioned.  The 
indications  of  the  fact  are  clear  in  his  entire  physical 
organization  ; every  bone,  muscle  and  tendon  of  his 
frame  declare  him  to  be  made  for  activity  ; and  his  earli- 
est developed  propensities  demonstrate  the  same  truth,  no 
less  than  the  pressing  necessities  of  his  nature,  and  the 
testimony  of  universal  experience  to  the  connection  be- 
tween happiness  and  well  regulated  action. 

Nor  are  the  indications  less  clear,  that  God  has  work 
for  man  to  do  in  the  moral  world.  The  mind  never 
sleeps.  Its  repose  is  found  in  action.  Whether  it  receive 
impressions  or  produce  them,  it  feels  and  acts  agreeably 
to  the  necessity  of  its  nature  ; and  these  impressions  cor- 
respond in  character  with  the  action  of  the  law  written 
on  the  heart.  If  that  law  operate  according  to  its  original 
design,  the  whole  course  of  life  will  be  marked  by  benefi- 
cence— and  love,  order,  peace  and  joy  will  prevail  against 
their  antagonistic  principles  ; but  if  its  original  design  be 
perverted,  and  the  law  in  the  members  triumph,  confusion 
and  tears  will  permeate  the  whole  sweep  of  its  authority. 

The  great  work  that  God  has  for  man  to  do,  is  none 
other  than  that  begun  by  Christ,  in  pursuance  of  the 
gracious  counsels  of  eternity.  So  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
magnifying  of  the  law  by  the  shedding  of  blood,  it  is 
already  accomplished.  In  the  fearful  scenes  of  Gethsem- 
ane  and  Calvary  was  the  foundation  laid  for  the  sinner’s 
restoration  to  his  Maker’s  favor,  by  the  vindication  of 
Jehovah’s  truth,  and  of  the  majesty  and  perfectness  of 
his  law.  Here,  God  in  Christ  acted  alone,  “ and  of  the 
people  there  was  none  with  him.”  But  the  living  struc- 
ture destined  to  rise  on  this  foundation,  demands  human 
workmanship  in  connection  with  the  divine  ; the  lively 
stones  composing  the  spiritual  house,  are  not  hewn  and 


6 


brought  to  their  places  without  man’s  instrumentality  ; 
the  world  is  not  to  be  recovered  from  sin’s  dominion,  nor 
the  hold  of  the  fallen  angel  on  the  race  to  be  broken,  nor 
the  clouds  of  gloomy  darkness  to  be  rolled  away,  and  the 
true  Light  to  be  comprehended,  without  the  sustained 
activities  of  regenerated  humanity.  Spiritual  ignorance  is 
every  where  settled  and  profound.  Men  know  not  God 
as  they  ought  to  know  him,  nor  the  extent  and  spirituality 
of  his  law ; they  know  not  even  themselves,  nor  the 
principles  that  control  their  conduct ; they  know  not 
Christ,  nor  apprehend  the  grand  design  of  his  mission  to 
the  world  ; they  know  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  nor  receive 
his  reproofs  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  judgment;  they 
understand  not  their  duties  one  to  another  as  subjects  of 
a common  guilt,  and  heirs  of  a common  destiny  ; and,  of 
heaven,  the  habitation  of  the  pure  in  heart,  as  of  hell,  the 
eternal  home  of  the  wicked,  they  have  no  definite  con- 
ceptions. And,  upon  these  subjects,  knowledge  is  to  be 
diffused ; — the  Bible  is  to  be  sent  abroad  on  the  wings  of 
every  wind;  its  doctrines  and  precepts  are  to  be  expound- 
ed and  fast  bound  on  the  conscience  ; the  gospel  is  to  be 
proclaimed  in  all  its  fulness  and  glory  ; its  paramount 
authority  is  to  be  urged,  and  its  spirit  exemplified,  while 
its  rewards  and  punishments  are  to  be  displayed  in  all  the 
vividness  and  force  appropriate  to  eternal  verities;  the  life 
giving  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  also  are  to  be  secured 
by  prayer,  with  corresponding  activity  in  preparing  the 
hearts  of  men  to  receive  them.  The  teachings  of  the 
gospel,  inefficient  in  themselves,  are  mighty  only  through 
God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  and  casting 
down  lofty  imaginations  ; “not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,”  is  the  heart 
subdued,  and  the  eye  turned  away  from  earth  to  heaven. 

The  work  given  man  to  do,  demands  faith  in  God,  as 
the  author  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  Believing, 
man  can  do  all  things;  unbelieving,  he  can  do  nothing. 
It  demands  self-denial,  or,  the  sacrifice  of  ease  and  gain — 


7 


the  doing  with  all  the  might,  whatsoever  the  hands  find 
to  do,  to  persuade  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  It  de- 
mands practical  wisdom  ; we  are  to  become  all  things  to 
all  men,  that  their  prejudices  may  be  obviated,  their  pas- 
sions quelled,  and  their  attention  gained  ; and  then,  every 
appliance  of  argument  and  motive  is  to  be  discreetly 
made.  It  demands  patience  and  perseverance  too ; for 
ignorance  is  not  to  be  banished,  nor  perverseness  con- 
quered, nor  the  regeneration  of  the  individual  or  the 
community  effected,  in  a day. 

The  field  of  these  labors  is  the  world.  Divide  it  as 
you  will,  and  rear  the  walls  of  separation  between  the 
nations  high  as  heaven  ; let  configuration  and  color,  social 
customs  and  education,  language  and  religion,  hereditary 
strifes  and  belligerent  dispositions  interpose  as  many 
barriers  between  them  as  the  bitterest  foe  of  human 
equality  can  desire,  yet,  as  by  heaven’s  ordinance  all  men 
are  brethren,  so  by  Christ’s  command,  all  are  to  be  evan- 
gelized. Nor  are  there  wanting  on  record  facts  innume- 
rable demonstrative  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  break 
the  stout  heart  of  the  savage  warrior,  dispel  the  dark- 
mindedness of  the  stubborn  idolater,  constrain  the  infidel 
to  hang  his  hopes  on  the  cross,  and  subdue  the  wildest 
sons  of  profligacy  to  the  obedience  of  the  faith.  The 
labor  demanded  therefore  is  practicable.  The  end  con- 
templated is  attainable. 

It  is  not  to  be  attained  however  suddenly,  by  isolated  or 
even  united  effort.  As  no  possible  combination  of  the 
energies  of  man  can  at  once  bring  every  mountain  low 
and  exalt  every  valley,  or  create  lines  of  communication 
spanning  the  earth,  and  connecting  every  country,  city 
and  hamlet  by  iron  bands ; yet  as  mountains  are  giving 
way  and  valleys  rising,  and  communications  are  passing 
with  lightning  speed  from  land  to  land,  and  intelligence, 
extending  beyond  all  the  conceptions  of  other  years,  by 
the  application  of  newly  awaked  intellectual  energies  to 
the  eternal  principles  of  science  ; and  as  the  pickaxe  and 


8 


the  spade,  the  drill  and  the  lever,  the  wheel  and  the  steam 
in  the  hands  of  persevering  industry,  are  tearing  down 
the  Alps  and  the  Andes,  and  circumambulating  the  world 
with  the  precision  of  the  diurnal  sun  ; — so  the  idolatries 
and  superstitions  of  the  nations,  though  too  deeply  im- 
bedded in  the  corruptions  of  fallen  nature,  and  of  too 
mountainous  height  and  strength  to  be  swept  away  at 
once  by  any  conceivable  combination  of  the  moral  forces 
of  Christendom,  yet  “ by  little  and  little  ” may  they  be 
subdued  and  extirpated,  as  were  the  Hivite  and  Canaanite 
and  Hittite  of  old.  If  faithful  laborers  are  employed,  and 
furnished  with  appropriate  instruments  of  operation,  and 
if  time  be  allowed  them,  and  the  electric  wires  of  frater- 
nal love  and  high  resolve  connect  all  hearts  and  hands 
devoted  to  Christ  and  his  church,  then  shall  the  cloud-capt 
towers  and  gorgeous  palaces  of  Pope  and  Pagan  be  over- 
turned, and  the  way  cleared  for  the  triumphant  march  of 
pure  and  undefiled  religion  over  the  entire  moral  world. 
But,  as  in  subduing  the  elements  of  nature  to  human 
purposes,  and  levelling  the  inequalities  of  the  earth’s  sur- 
face, and  preparing  the  way  for  the  freest  intercommuni- 
cation between  the  several  kindreds  of  the  earth,  there 
are  various  processes  to  be  carried  out,  and  instruments  to 
be  used — as  the  labor  involved  must  be  divided  into  dis- 
tinct departments,  and  each  department  supplied  with 
laborers  of  appropriate  qualifications ; so  in  the  conquest 
of  the  world  to  the  authority  of  Jesus,  and  in  the  diffu- 
sion of  the  light  and  love  which  are  to  bind  all  nations  in 
a common  brotherhood,  a corresponding  division  of  labor 
and  diversity  of  laborers  is  demanded.  And  for  this 
Heaven  has  made  provision  in  the  distribution  of  its  gifts 
throughout  the  church,  giving  to  one,  as  in  apostolic  days, 
the  word  of  wisdom,  to  another  the  word  of  knowledge, 
to  another  faith,  to  another  the  discerning  of  spirits,  to 
another  divers  kinds  of  tongues,  and  to  another  the  inter- 
pretation of  tongues.  The  principle  of  adaptation,  so 
visible  every  where  in  the  material  creation,  is  main- 


9 


tamed  with  equal  force  and  clearness  throughout  the  moral 
world.  As  the  husbandman  and  the  mechanic,  the  pro- 
fessional man  and  the  merchant,  the  ship  builder  and  the 
mariner,  in  their  different  departments  of  labor,  each  con- 
tribute according  to  their  industry  and  skill  to  the  attain- 
ment of  the  great  end  proposed  by  human  enterprise  and 
toil — the  amelioration  of  each  other’s  condition,  and  the 
increase  of  the  comforts  of  the  great  family  of  man  ; so 
the  minister  at  the  altar  and  the  subordinate  officer  of  the 
church,  the  theological  professor  and  the  Sabbath  school 
teacher,  the  author  of  the  tract  and  its  distributer,  the 
evangelist  at  home  and  the  foreign  missionary,  have  each 
their  distinct  spheres  of  action,  to  be  occupied  with  mutual 
benefit  and  a common  success,  proportioned  to  the  humil- 
ity and  zeal  with  which  their  respective  duties  are  per- 
formed. The  comparative  importance  of  one  department 
or  another  is  scarce  a subject  of  pertinent  inquiry  ; all  of 
them  are  marked  out  in  the  economy  of  Providence  with 
like  reference  to  one  grand  result ; and  if  filled  with 
faithful  laborers,  that  result  will  be  secured— souls  will 
be  saved  from  death,  the  earth  will  be  blessed,  and  God 
will  be  glorified. 

Thus  are  we  instructed,  that  to  make  our  influence  felt 
over  the  world,  and  accomplish  what  the  Lord  would 
have  us  do,  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  individually 
traverse  and  explore  each  continent  and  isle  of  the  sea, 
nor  that  we  become  familiar  with  all  languages,  and  fix 
the  eye  with  equal  directness  and  intensity  on  all  the 
various  tribes  of  men.  Providence  assigns  us  a field  of 
labor  to  which  our  circumstances,  abilities  and  dispositions 
adapt  us,  without  foreclosing  other  fields,  by  such  an 
assignment,  against  those  whose  capabilities  and  desires 
qualify  them  for  their  occupancy.  If  Paul  go  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  Peter  remain  with  the  circumcision  ; if  Edwards 
labor  at  Northampton,  Stockbridge  or  Princeton,  and 
Brainerd  station  himself  at  Kaunameek  ; if  Dwight  and 
Griffin  trim  the  midnight  lamp  for  the  education  of  the 
2 


10 


greater  lights  of  our  country,  or  the  edification  of  our 
largest  churches,  and  lay  their  bones  in  the  land  of  their 
fathers  ; so  with  equal  propriety  and  acceptance  Fisk  and 
Parsons  explore  the  desolations  of  Palestine  ; Hail  and 
Newell  expend  their  strength  on  the  shores  of  India  ; 
Mills  and  Ashmun  consecrate  their  energies  to  the 
redemption  of  Africa ; and  Munson  and  Lyman  lay 
down  their  lives  in  answering  calls  from  the  islands  of 
the  sea,  for  emancipation  from  bloody  thraldom.  The 
inquiry,  “ Lord  ! what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?”  is  thus 
answered  by  the  Providence  that  assigns  the  field  and  the 
species  of  labor  to  one  and  another,  in  correspondence 
with  their  tastes,  habits  of  mental  discipline,  physical  and 
moral  developments,  and  the  “ necessity  laid  upon  them.” 

As  to  the  comparative  claims  of  Home  and  Foreign 
missions,  it  may  be  said  confidently,  that  they  admit  of 
settlement  by  no  rules  of  man’s  arithmetic.  The  im- 
primatur of  heaven  is  on  them  both.  They  are  “ twins, 
tied  by  nature.”  Each  demands  the  whole-souled  sup- 
port of  every  friend  of  Christ.  If  churches  at  home 
languish,  missions  abroad  pine  away.  If  desolations 
increase  here,  and  thorns  of  the  wilderness  spring  up  in 
the  once  blooming  garden  of  the  Lord,  never  will  the 
fragrance  of  the  Rose  of  Sharon  be  diffused  over  the 
world’s  wide  wilderness.  So  thought  our  fathers.  So 
let  their  children  think,  and  act  accordingly. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  May,  1799,  a few  friends 
of  Christ  from  the  central  and  eastern  counties  of  the 
Commonwealth,  assembled  by  previous  agreement  in  this 
city  of  our  solemnities,  for  the  organization  of  a Mission- 
ary Society,  on  the  same  scriptural  principles  that  have 
formed  the  basis  of  every  evangelical  association  for  the 
world’s  conversion  since  Christ  went  home  to  heaven. 
Among  them  were  the  honored  names  of  Emmons,  Aus- 
tin, Simpkins,  Sanford,  Hopkins,  W f,ld,  Spring,  Barker, 
Nilf.s,  Crane  and  Strong,  who  were  selected  from  their 


11 


compeers  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  carrying  out  the 
purpose  deliberately  formed  ; of  “ diffusing  the  knowledge 
of  the  gospel  among  the  heathens  as  well  as  other  people, 
in  the  remote  parts  of  our  country,  where  Christ  is  seldom 
or  never  preached.”  And,  to  this  movement  were  they 
led  by  the  response  of  Heaven  to  their  prayer,  “ Hord  ! 
what  wilt  thou  have  us  to  do  ? ” 

Five  years  later,  when  increasing  familiarity  with  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  world  had  expanded  their  views, 
they  so  amended  the  article  of  the  constitution  just  re- 
cited, as  to  make  it  embrace  the  whole  family  of  man. 

“ To  diffuse  the  gospel  among  the  people  of  the  newly 
settled  and  remote  parts  of  our  country,  among  the  Indi- 
ans of  the  country,  and  through  the  more  distant  regions 
of  the  earth,  as  circumstances  shall  invite,  and  the  ability 
of  the  Society  shall  admit,”  became  thenceforward  their 
all-comprehensive  object.  Neither  a nobler  nor  a more 
single  one  ever  presented  itself  to  the  human  mind.  It  is 
large  and  indivisible  as  the  great  command  of  the  ascend- 
ing Redeemer.  Embracing  at  once  the  home  and  foreign 
fields  as  equally  the  Lord’s  and  alike  cursed  by  the  usur- 
pations of  Satan,  and  calling  for  deliverance  in  tones  of 
unutterable  agony — they  contemplated  nothing  less  than 
the  moral  emancipation  of  the  World,  and  the  shivering 
of  the  dark  sceptre  under  which  it  had  “groaned  and  trav- 
ailed in  pain,”  for  almost  six  thousand  years.  Their  efforts, 
it  is  true,  were  feeble,  and  their  immediate  success  small ; 
but  their  reach  of  mind  commands  admiration,  and  their 
perseverance  amid  untold  discouragements  proves  their 
hearts  to  have  been  attempered  amid  the  fires  that  glow 
on  heaven’s  altars.  To  them,  the  Saviour’s  life  of  toil  and 
death  of  woe  illustrated  the  magnitude  and  value  of  the 
work  ; the  labors  and  sufferings  of  Apostles  threw  around 
it  a quenchless  glory  ; the  priceless  worth  of  the  gem  of 
immortality  concealed  in  every  bosom — its  rescue  from 
destruction  in  the  persons  of  uncounted  millions — the  re- 
demption of  the  ground  from  its  entailed  curse,  and  the 


12 


ineffable  splendors  of  heaven,  overspreading  eternal  ages 
of  blissful  occupation — all  opened  ou  the  eye  of  their 
faith  the  unsearchable  riches  garnered  up  in  the  results  of 
the  work  the  Lord  gave  them  to  do — a work  as  fresh  and 
glorious  in  the  hands  of  apostles  of  the  nineteenth  century 
as  in  those  of  the  first. 

I have  alluded  to  the  feebleness  of  their  early  efforts, 
and  the  embarrassments  that  crowded  the  incipient  stages 
of  their  enterprise.  And  this  will  be  understood,  by  allu- 
sion to  the  fact  that  during  the  first  year  of  the  organiza- 
tion, one  thousand  forty-five  dollars  and  eight  cents 
only,  were  received  into  their  treasury  ; and,  that  no  man 
could  be  persuaded  to  enter  the  missionary  field,  though 
appointments  were  made,  and  pressed  with  much  entreaty. 
The  second  year  added  but  about  two  hundred  dollars  to 
the  funds,  though  four  missionaries  were  obtained  ; — one 
of  them  for  three  months,  to  labor  in  Vermont,  another 
for  several  months  in  Maine,  and  the  others  ten  months 
each,  in  “ the  new  settlements,  between  Whitestown  and 
the  Genesee  river,  and  among  the  neighboring  tribes  of 
Indians.”  It  was  a day  of  small  things  ; but  still  it  was 
the  birth-day  of  a system  of  operations,  which  now  car- 
ries joy  and  gladness  into  ten  thousand  habitations  of  our 
own  land,  and  makes  known  the  wonderful  works  of  the 
Lord  far  and  wide  throughout  the  world.  I speak  advis- 
edly. Wherever  were  the  birth-place  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  whatever  their  aliment  in  their  infancy,  they 
were  dandled  on  the  knees  of  the  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut Missionary  Societies  while  they  themselves  were 
yet  feeble.  The  Directors  and  executive  officers  of  “ the 
Board  ” were  chosen  from  among  those  whose  wisdom 
and  experience  had  ripened  into  maturity  under  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Home  Missionary  spirit;  its  plans  and  move- 
ments were  devised  by  those  who,  like  Worcester  and 
Evarts,  had  taken  their  lessons  in  the  Home  Missionary 
school ; and  its  successful  labors  have  been  accomplished 
by  men  whose  earliest  philanthropic  emotions  were  in- 


13 


spired  by  the  genius  of  Home  Missions.  In  this  we  re- 
joice as  Heaven’s  arrangement,  and  the  seal  of  its  appro- 
bation ; and,  “ as  the  truth  of  Christ  is  in  us,  no  man 
shall  stop  us  of  this  boasting  in  all  the  regions  of  Achaia.” 
But  with  this  branch  of  the  Society’s  early  operations  in 
reference  to  “ the  Indians  of  the  country  and  the  more 
distant  parts  of  the  earth,”  we  are  no  farther  concerned, 
since  its  separation  from  the  parent  stock  in  1810,  and  its 
able  management  by  “the  American  Board.” 

Till  1827,  the  Society  struggled  for  enlargement,  and 
scattered  its  laborers,  sparsely  indeed,  from  Maine  to  Lou- 
isiana, aiming  to  execute  its  commission  faithfully  “ among 
the  people  of  the  newly  settled  and  remote  parts  of  our 
country.”  The  correctness  of  its  policy  may  fairly  be 
questioned,  while  the  largeness  of  its  desires  cannot  be 
too  earnestly  emulated.  Its  aims  were  high,  but  its  ener- 
gies were  crippled  by  the  scantiness  of  its  resources.  A 
little  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars,  making  an  average 
of  eighteen  hundred  per  annum,  formed  the  total  amount 
of  its  receipts  during  the  first  twenty-eight  years  of  its 
existence,  exclusive  of  small  donations  of  Bibles  and 
tracts  committed  to  its  missionaries  by  liberal  friends,  for 
gratuitous  distribution.  During  this  period,  however,  ex- 
perience taught  knowledge,  the  spirit  of  piety  increased, 
the  tokens  of  future  accomplishment  multiplied,  and  the 
foundations  of  ultimate  success  were  deeply  and  broadly 
laid. 

While  the  Society’s  charter  allowed  free  course  to  its 
movements  in  all  other  parts  of  the  land,  Massachusetts  her- 
self seemed  to  be  regarded  as  a palace  of  silver  built  on  a 
wall,  and  inclosed  with  boards  of  cedar,  liable  to  no  decay, 
requiring  no  repairs,  rich  in  heavenly  treasures,  and  conse- 
quently shut  out  from  the  reach  of  the  beneficence  that  scat- 
tered the  blessings  of  the  gospel  broadcast  over  “the  remote 
parts  of  our  country.”  An  investigation  of  facts,  how- 
ever, revealed  the  mistake.  From  various  causes,  some 
churches  had  become  extinct,  others  were  enfeebled  to  a 


14 


degree  that  rendered  their  continued  existence  doubtful, 
and  others  still  were  violently  assailed  by  the  adversary 
who  spread  out  his  hand  on  all  their  pleasant  things,  and 
the  area  of  wasteness  and  desolation  was  found  to  be  rap- 
idly extending.  This  state  of  things  demanded  attention. 
The  eye  affected  the  heart,  because  of  the  daughters  of 
Zion.  And  in  1818,  the  General  Association  of  the  State 
resolved  on  the  organization  of  the  Domestic  Missionary 
Society  of  Massachusetts,  and  appointed  a Board  of  Di- 
rectors, whose  labors  and  successes  in  raising  up  fallen 
churches,  strengthening  the  feeble,  relieving  the  oppressed, 
and  furnishing  means  of  grace  to  the  destitute,  admit  not 
of  recital  here.  But  after  fulfilling  its  commission  for 
nine  years,  without  being  known  in  law,  and  with  no 
other  funds  than  the  freewill  offerings  of  the  people,  but 
with  highly  gratifying  results,  it  became  united  with  the 
Society  whose  semi-centennial  we  celebrate  to-night,  in 
consequence  of  a change  effected  in  its  charter,  authorizing 
and  empowering  it  to  employ  its  funds  in  Massachusetts 
or  elsewhere,  at  its  discretion.  This  union  long  desired, 
was  thus  happily  consummated. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  American  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety had  risen  into  life,  as  the  offspring  of  that  wisdom 
which  is  from  above,  the  representative  of  the  Home 
Missionary  spirit  of  the  whole  land,  and  the  heaven- 
ordained  agent  of  accomplishing  a stupendous  moral  revo- 
lution in  the  religious  aspects  of  the  country.  Its  felici- 
tous organization  in  1826,  its  central  position,  catholic 
principles  and  promised  efficiency,  at  once  secured  confi- 
dence. The  necessity  of  such  a bond  of  union  as  its 
constitution  offered,  between  the  scattered  elements  of 
Home  evangelization — a necessity  arising  from  our  rapidly 
expanding  population,  with  its  heterogeneousness  of  char- 
acter, and  strong  tendencies  to  unbelief  and  viciousness, 
had  become  extensively  felt.  As  was  natural,  and  even 
indispensable  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  original  designs 
of  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  an  auxiliary  re- 


15 


lation  was  established  between  them  without  delay,  which 
has  hitherto  been  maintained,  with  ever-increasing  har- 
mony of  sentiment,  and  mutual  advantage. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  do  less,  and  quite  needless  to  at- 
tempt more  on  an  occasion  like  this,  than  to  “stir  up  your 
pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance.”  The  enterprise  in 
which  we  are  engaged  is  not  new.  The  principles  on 
which  it  rests,  are  familiar.  The  spirit  that  crowns  it 
with  success  is  not  a stranger  to  your  hearts;  and  it  is 
only  the  cumulative  argument,  impelling  tore-invigorated 
action,  that  need  be  urged.  And  even  this  is  so  often  pre- 
sented, in  such  variety  of  phase,  and  with  such  cogency 
of  appeal,  as  well  nigh  to  discourage  all  attempted  utter- 
ance of  the  heart’s  convictions,  that  our  country,  if  saved 
at  all,  must  be  saved  by  the  gospel’s  power.  Let  me  say, 
however, — 

It  is  a grand  moral  achievement  that  is  contemplated 
by  Home  Missionary  Associations — nothing  less  than 
the  spiritual  regeneration  of  the  whole  land.  Value  as 
we  may,  intellectual  enlightenment,  purity  of  morals,  re- 
finement of  manners,  the  peace  of  neighborhoods,  the 
success  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  or  the 
mechanic  arts, — the  maintenance  of  our  civil  institutions, 
— the  perpetuity  of  immunities  handed  down  to  us  from 
our  fathers,  and  our  defences  against  foreign  aggression  ; 
— yet  all  are  but  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  in  com- 
parison with  the  renewal  of  the  mind  in  the  image  of 
God,  and  the  possession  of  an  incorruptible  inheritance  in 
the  heavens  ; — a renewal  effected  only  by  God’s  truth  in 
the  hand  of  the  Spirit,  and  forming  the  basis  of  all  that 
is  lovely  and  of  good  report  in  each  relationship  of  life, 
as  well  as  of  peace  in  death,  and  glory  beyond  the  grave. 

1.  Through  God’s  favor  we  have  a pleasant  land,  of 
whose  extent  and  capabilities  no  mind  but  faintly  con- 
ceives. Exclusive  of  the  late  acquisitions  from  Mexico, 
the  area  of  the  United  States  admits  of  division  into  376 


16 


States  as  large  as  Massachusetts  ; and,  including  the  ter- 
ritories ceded  by  Mexico,  the  number  of  such  States  rises 
to  448.*  Three  millions  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
square  miles  form  a broader  field  than  twenty-six  king- 
doms like  Great  Britain  would  cover,  and  is  exceeded 
only  in  500,000  square  miles,  by  all  Europe,  embracing 
three  empires,  sixteen  kingdoms,  and  more  than  forty 
other  independent  states.  And  it  has  been  said,  less  ac- 
curately, perhaps,  than  elegantly,  that  “plains  here  open 
to  our  view  as  boundless  as  the  ocean  ; mountains  that 
look  down  upon  the  clouds  ; slopes  that  cover  thousands 
of  miles  in  extent,  and  rivers  co-extensive.  Nature  paints 
on  her  largest  scale  ; all  her  figures  are  colossal  ; all  her 
features  bold  and  strongly  marked.”  If  perchance,  loftier 
mountains,  broader  streams,  or  more  extensive  plains  be 
found  elsewhere,  there  are  yet  none  richer  in  their  produc- 
tions, more  accommodating  to  the  demands  of  commercial 
enterprise,  nor  more  abundant  in  their  returns  to  the  hand 
of  industry.  Its  mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  resources 
are  proved  exhaustless,  by  the  developments  of  advancing 
years.  Its  ten  thousand  miles  of  continuous  coal  field, 
its  iron  mountains,  and  newly  discovered  mines  of  lead 
and  copper,  of  silver  and  gold  ; its  numberless  lakes  and 
rivers  ; its  verdant  hill  tops,  fruitful  vallies  and  beautiful 
prairies  rolling  like  the  sea,  baffle  description,  while  they 
indicate  the  purpose  of  high  Heaven  to  make  it  forever 
the  glory  of  all  lands.  That  ancient  land  whose  “ brooks 
of  water,  fountains  and  depths  springing  out  of  vallies 
and  hills,”  are  celebrated  in  inspired  song — “a  land  of 
wheat  and  barley,  and  vines  and  fig  trees  and  pome- 
granates, a land  of  oil  olive  and  honey — whose  stones 
were  iron,  and  out  of  whose  hills  brass  was  dug  ” — was 
rich  indeed,  salubrious,  and  blessed  of  Heaven  ; but  our 
own  country  is  richer  still,  as  healthful  too,  sharing 
more  largely  in  all  that  ministers  to  human  welfare. 

* See  Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  Hon.  H.  Mann  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, page  33. 


17 


2.  Already  a population  of  more  than  twenty  millions 
spreads  itself  over  this  broad  land.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  elevated  and  vitalized  by  the  influences  of  a pure 
Christianity,  forms  the  substratum  of  the  wonderful  com- 
bination, into  which  enters  in  various  proportions  the  im- 
perturbable spirit  of  the  Dutchman,  the  vivaciousuess  of 
the  Frenchman,  the  pride  of  the  Castilian,  the  hardiness 
of  the  Norwegian,  and  the  ^severance  of  the  German. 
All  nations  have  their  representatives  among  us.  And  it 
is  more  than  possible,  that  after  the  inevitable  effervescing 
process  of  these  discordant  elements  shall  have  passed, 
the  singular  compound  will  receive  a deeper  impress  of 
whatever  is  noble  in  human  character  than  has  yet  been 
made  on  auy  nation  under  heaven  ; it  may  be  confi- 
dently anticipated  indeed,  if  faith  shall  work  by  love,  and 
pour  into  the  fused  mass  a copious  mixture  of  the  Apos- 
tolic spirit. 

3.  The  unexampled  rapidity  with  which  this  popula- 
tion increases — in  the  ratio  of  three  per  cent,  or  eight 
hundred  thousand  souls  a year — unless  it  shall  be  inter- 
rupted by  unforeseen  interpositions  of  Providence,  will 
give  to  the  country  within  a hundred  years,  a larger  pop- 
ulation than  China  boasts,  and  double  the  amount  of  that 
of  Europe  ; nor  in  this  fact  is  there  anything  to  excite 
apprehension,  if  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  keep 
pace  with  the  advancing  numbers  of  the  people;  for  then 
will  there  be  ever  increasing  harmony  of  sentiment  and 
warmth  of  patriotic  emotion,  combined  with  earnestness 
of  effort  to  extend  the  blessings  of  civilized  and  intellec- 
tual life  over  the  broad  expanse  of  the  nations.  But  the 
mass  of  ignorance  that  now  exists  and  accumulates  from 
year  to  year,  through  the  addition  of  five  hundred  thou- 
sand foreign  immigrants,  is  not  to  be  removed  nor  even 
neutralized  in  its  influence  on  succeeding  generations,  apart 
from  systematic  and  persevering  missionary  effort. 

4.  We  claim  to  be  a Christian  nation  ; and  the  claim  is 
just,  in  so  far  as  dissent  from  the  faith  of  Jews,  Moham- 

3 


18 


medans,  and  Pagans  confirms  it.  The  Bible  is  among  us, 
as  a commonly  recognized  revelation  from  heaven.  The 
Sabbath  to  some  extent  is  honored.  The  sanctuary  opens 
its  doors  to  them  that  fear  God  ; and  an  efficient  ministry 
commands  respect  extensively  and  holds  the  evil  tenden- 
cies of  society  in  abeyance.  Still,  infidelity  occupies 
high  places,  and  diffuses  itself  far  and  wide.  Godlessness 
abounds.  Vice  forgets  to  blush.  Crime  escapes  unpun- 
ished. Oppression  and  violence  triumph  over  the  weak- 
ness of  humanity.  Principles  of  licentiousness  take  root, 
and  bring  forth  luxuriantly  the  grapes  of  Sodom  and  the 
clusters  of  Gomorrah.  Even  religion  itself  is  wounded 
in  the  house  of  its  friends ; and,  betrayed  into  the  hands  of 
its  enemies,  or  else  clothed  in  the  attire  of  an  harlot,  is 
employed  by  the  great  seducer  to  bind  pver  multitudes  to 
destruction. 

But  of  the  varieties  of  religious  faith,  and  observance, 
and  of  the  feuds  of  rival  sects,  I need  only  say,  that  as 
the  legitimate  offspring  of  combined  imbecility  and  cor- 
ruption, they  will  vanish  before  the  advancing  light  of 
the  Sun  of  righteousness,  as  offensive  reptiles  and  beasts 
of  prey  disappear  before  the  manly  enterprise  that  converts 
their  hiding-places  into  blooming  fields  and  cultivated 
gardens.  Formalism  may  assert  its  title  to  the  heavenly 
inheritance,  but  meek  spirituality  successfully  confronts 
it.  Fanaticism  may  boast  of  new  revelations  and  of  inter- 
course with  disembodied  spirits,  but  an  intelligent  and 
whole-souled  piety  confounds  it.  Rationalism  claims  a 
higher  divinity  than  it  allows  to  the  Word  of  God,  but 
cowers  in  the  presence  of  the  unsophisticated  faith  that 
“ knows  the  Bible  true,  and  knows  no  more.”  Romanism, 
dark-minded,  jesuitical  and  destructive  in  all  its  bearings 
on  civil  and  religious  liberty,  may  arrogate  the  honors  that 
belong  to  God  alone,  but  in  the  evangelism  that  pervades 
the  Protestant  community,  it  finds  an  invincible  antagonist. 
So  happily  has  Heaven  adjusted  the  checks  and  balances 
of  truth  and  error,  that  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 


19 


prevalence  of  the  latter,  if  we  fall  not  from  our  steadfast- 
ness in  maintaining  the  former. 

The  world  is  a wide  battle-field  of  conflicting  principles 
and  opinions.  In  far  the  largest  part  of  it,  a servile  sub- 
jection to  hierarchical  establishments  and  traditionary  re- 
cords is  gloried  in.  Freedom  of  thought  and  indepen- 
dence of  judgment  are  unknown.  The  mind  quietly  sub- 
mits to  vassalage.  Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  idolatrous 
and  superstitious  worship,  and  corruption  is  its  father. 
Largeness  of  mind,  purity  of  heart,  and  integrity  of  con- 
duct are  sacrificed  to  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  the  baser 
passions  of  the  moral  nature.  But  nowhere  is  the  field 
of  conflict  so  clear,  nor  an  active  contest  so  warmly 
waged,  or  so  promising  in  its  issue,  as  in  our  own  country  ; 
for  no  consolidated  superstitions  are  here — no  ecclesiasti- 
cal establishments  frown  defiance  on  the  spirit  of  open 
inquiry ; no  powerful  priesthood  throws  into  prison  the 
offending  preacher  of  God’s  truth,  nor  maintains  the  right 
of  dictating  terms  of  admission  to  the  privileges  of  citi- 
zenship and  offices  of  State  ; nor  does  any  civil  power 
interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  impose 
“ pains  and  penalties  ” for  11011-adherence  to  prescribed 
forms  of  faith ; but  every  man  worships  when  and  where 
he  chooses,  or  nowhere  if  he  dare,  and  adopts  and  defends 
opinions,  under  responsibilities  to  none  but  Jehovah ! 
And  if,  as  a consequence  of  this  unrestricted  liberty,  re- 
pulsive errors  come  in  like  a flood,  and  proselytism  run 
rampant,  and  “ confusion  worse  confounded  ” temporarily 
prevail,  so  that  “ truth  falls  in  the  streets,  and  equity  can- 
not enter” — yet  have  we  nothing  to  fear,  while  the  field 
of  argument  is  open  to  all,  and  while  with  spiritual  weapons 
in  our  hands,  we  faithfully  follow  the  leadership  of  the 
Lord,  mighty  in  battle.  Truth  is  mightier  than  the 
mightiest,  as  God  is  higher  than  the  highest  among  the 
children  of  men.  Further, 

5.  True  it  is,  that  the  moral  desolations  of  the  land  are 
wide  and  appalling,  and  thousands  of  communities,  and 


20 


millions  of  individuals  are  groping  their  way  in  darkness, 
to  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ.  And  it  is  clear  that  these 
moral  wastes  are  most  numerous  in  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, where  the  foundations  of  society  are  not  yet  laid  in 
just  and  commonly  understood  principles,  and  cemented 
by  mutual  acquaintance  and  love ; — where  the  forest  slowly 
yields  to  the  woodman’s  axe,  and  the  plow-share  is  driven 
with  difficulty  through  soil  undisturbed  for  centuries,  ex- 
cept by  the  tramp  of  the  buffalo,  and  the  swift-footed 
hunter.  Physical  wants  there  press  heavily ; every  energy 
is  tasked  for  the  supply  of  food  and  raiment ; and  the 
cravings  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature  for  appropri- 
ate aliment  are  unheeded.  Error  and  dissipation  too,  are 
widely  triumphant  amid  these  scenes  of  desolation.  The 
arm  of  civil  authority  is  weak,  and  imposes  few  restraints. 
Educational  influences,  however  strong  in  the  happier  cir- 
cumstances of  childhood,  operate  but  feebly  on  neglected 
manhood.  The  sound  of  the  church-going  bell  is  rarely 
heard  ; the  solemn  assembly  is  forsaken  ; and  the  Sabbath, 
stripped  of  its  sacred  ness,  is  devoted  to  recreation  or 
vicious  indulgence.  Even  where  the  institutions  of  reli- 
gion languish  in  happy  New  England,  the  bands  of  social 
order  break  asunder,  the  youth  grow  up  to  ignorance,  the 
spirit  of  honorable  enterprise  fails,  and  hard  griping  ava- 
rice, or  low-lived  cunning,  and  filthy  pleasures  absorb  the 
mind’s  wakefulness,  uprooting  honest  industry,  banishing 
domestic  confidence,  and  laying  open  the  whole  commu- 
nity to  the  ingress  of  the  foulest  spirits  of  the  pit ; but, 
far  more  broadly  true  is  this  of  other  sections  of  the 
country,  where  religious  institutions  have  never  yet  laid 
strong  hold  on  the  public  mind — where  thousands  on 
thousands  of  children  and  youth  are  untaught  the  first 
rudiments  of  human  and  divine  knowledge,  where  half 
the  adult  population  cannot  read  the  oracles  of  God,  and 
nine-tenths  of  the  remaining  half  prefer  the  instruction 
that  causeth  to  err  from  the  words  of  knowledge  ! Cater- 
ers to  sensuality  are  never  wanting  there  ; preachers  of 


21 


another  gospel  than  that  which  Paul  proclaimed,  are  ever 
at  hand  to  do  their  master’s  work  ; edition  after  edition,  of 
the  doctrine  taught  in  Eden,  revised  and  amended,  bound 
and  gilded  after  the  latest  fashion,  is  thrown  off,  caught 
up,  and  greedily  devoured  by  such  of  the  community  as 
have  threaded  the  mazes  of  the  spelling-book,  and  become 
thereby  wiser  than  Moses  or  Solomon.  They  scatter 
around  them  a moral  pestilence,  breaking  forth  in  boils  and 
blains  more  grievous  and  fatal  than  those  which  covered 
the  Egyptians — issuing  in  death  eternal.  Besides, 

6.  The  heterogeneousness  of  the  population  involves  a 
thousand  diversities  of  intellectual  habits  and  social  cus- 
toms, as  well  as  of  religious  and  political  opinions.  From 
these,  spring  prejudices  and  strifes,  whose  inveteracy  and 
violence,  time  only,  in  combination  with  evangelical  in- 
struction, can  undermine  and  destroy.  The  sentiments 
and  habitudes  of  early  life,  yield  but  slowly,  in  the  most 
auspicious  circumstances,  to  later  influences  ; and  nothing 
short  of  the  power  from  on  high,  operating  through 
the  truth  of  Revelation  laid  upon  the  conscience,  can 
thoroughly  subdue  them.  The  Sandwich  Islander  may 
be  Americanized — the  enslaved  African  may  become  an 
independent  and  honored  citizen — the  oppressed  Irishman 
may  be  transformed  into  an  intelligent  freeman — and  the 
Russian  serf  may  learn  to  appreciate  the  blessings  of 
liberty ; but  years  must  roll  on,  and  intellectual  and 
moral  appliances  must  be  wisely  and  perseveringly  used 
before  homogeneity  of  feeling  and  action  will  be  produced 
between  them.  Bring  all  classes  into  the  same  daily 
pupilage,  and  under  a common  system  of  evangelical 
instruction — and  their  social  customs,  religious  and  polit- 
ical opinions,  with  the  prejudices  and  passions  nourished 
by  them,  will  ultimately  be  melted  down  like  mingled 
ores  in  a common  crucible,  and  prepared  for  harmonious 
action  in  all  that  concerns  the  interests  of  Zion  and  the 
world. 

Such  a result  demands  varied  labors  for  its  accomplish- 


22 


ment,  and  an  energy  of  faith,  indomitable  as  that  which 
coursed  through  the  veins  of  the  Puritan  fathers  two 
hundred  years  ago.  The  Bible  must  be  put  within  the 
reach  of  all  ; the  colporteur  must  explore  the  dormitories 
of  ignorance  and  the  dens  of  iniquity ; the  schoolmaster 
must  be  abroad  ; the  Sabbath  school  must  be  sustained 
on  the  basis  of  a broad  evangelical  Catholicism  ; and  no 
effort  may  be  spared  to  furnish  every  family  with  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  religious  press.  But  an  instrumentality 
high  above  all  this,  and  to  which  all  else  is  subsidiary,  is 
the  holy  ministry,  ordained  of  heaven  to  command  all 
men  every  where  to  repent, — to  establish  churches,  ad- 
minister ordinances,  and  supervise  the  auxiliary  move- 
ments of  the  spirit  of  benevolence.  Aside  of  this,  every 
other  instrumentality  is  as  powerless  to  subdue  and  bind 
the  man  of  sin,  as  the  green  withes  and  flaxen  cords  of 
the  Philistines  to  conquer  the  son  of  Manoah.  It  is  the 
word  preached,  that  becomes  the  power  of  God,  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation.  “ Faith  cometh  by  hear- 
ing ; ” — and,  “ how  shall  they  hear  without  a preacher ! ” 
7.  We  have  a paramount  duty  to  discharge  to  our 
country.  Here  are  the  sepulchres  of  our  fathers.  Here 
are  our  homes,  and  the  homes  of  our  posterity  ; and  here 
must  our  bones  rest  till  the  dawn  of  the  resurrection 
morning.  Not  only  so,  but  it  is  the  Lord’s  land,  committed 
to  us,  for  cultivation  and  the  ingathering  of  his  harvest ; 
and  if  the  vine  be  dried  up,  and  the  fig  tree  languish  ; the 
pomegranate  tree,  the  palm  tree  also,  and  the  apple  tree, 
even  all  trees  of  the  field  wither,  and  the  wheat  and  the 
barley  of  the  field  perish,  then  shall  shame  cover  us.  This 
work  is  committed  to  us  alone.  No  other  nation  can 
share  it.  And  we  have  abundant  means  to  accomplish  it. 
If  we  speak  of  wealth,  it  is  here ; or  of  laborers,  they  are 
here ; or  of  faith  and  prayer  and  energy,  they  are  all 
here.  These  are  the  Lord’s  treasures,  to  be  freely 
poured  forth  at  the  call  of  his  providence ; and,  whatever 
other  channels  are  prepared  for  their  outflow,  Home  Mis- 


23 


sions  is  second  to  none.  “ Go  ! preach  my  Gospel,  saith 
the  Lord  ; ” the  living  voice,  the  speaking  eye,  the  strong 
inward  emotion  gaining  utterance  through  every  limb  and 
muscle  of  the  frame,  have  mightier  power  over  the  spirits 
of  men,  and  bring  them  into  closer  contact  with  the  Spirit 
of  God,  than  all  other  means  combined  ; apart  from  them, 
indeed,  all  else  is  powerless  as  moon-beams  on  the  ice  of 
the  polar  circles. 

S.  And  then — if  the  extremities  of  the  earth  are  to  be 
reached,  and  all  nations  are  to  be  brought  to  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  it  must  be  done  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  fifty 
millions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  spread  over  this  and 
our  fatherland.  Piety  and  zeal  certainly  exist  in  some 
other  portions  of  Christendom,  but  the  labors  and  sacri- 
fices to  which  they  prompt,  however  great,  cannot  be 
commensurate  with  the  home  demand.  The  Anglican 
and  American  families  have  a special  commission,  clear  as 
the  sun  shining  in  his  strength,  to  give  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  to  every  people  under  heaven.  To  fulfil  this  com- 
mission, the  flame  of  love  must  burn  brightly  on  our  own 
altars;  religion  pure  and  undefiled  must  be  vigorously 
maintained  in  our  own  bosoms.  None  of  our  churches 
may  be  left  to  decay,  nor  our  fields  to  grow  over  to  thorns 
and  briars  ; but  the  gospel  must  be  proclaimed  in  all  its 
richness  and  power  throughout  the  land,  that  converts  to 
righteousness  may  be  multiplied,  the  friends  of  truth 
strengthened,  and  every  desolate  waste  transformed  into  a 
garden  of  the  Lord  ! 

Brethren  ! Can  you  doubt  what  the  Lord  would  have 
you  to  do  ? Your  country  is  before  you.  Its  wants  are 
known  to  you.  Its  dangers  are  seen  ; its  calls  are  heard  ; 
its  destiny  is  yet  undecided. 

Would  you  swell  the  amount  of  its  industry,  wealth 
and  beneficence  ? Evangelize  it  throughout. 

Would  you  confirm  and  perpetuate  its  admirable  civil 
institutions,  and  political  privileges  ? Proclaim  in  every 
part  of  it  the  Gospel. 


24 


Would  you  give  activity  to  tnind,  increase  its  acquisi- 
tions, and  render  the  common  school,  the  college  and  the 
higher  seminary,  nurseries  of  intelligence  and  virtue  ? 
Establish  every  where  the  authority  of  the  Bible  ! 

Would  you  refresh  the  hearts  of  thousands  who  are 
waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel,  and  ready  to  perish 
through  lack  of  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  your  Father’s 
table  ? Send  them  the  pastor,  who  will  break  to  them 
the  bread  of  life. 

Would  you  turn  back  upon  its  source  the  strong  current 
of  licentiousness,  and  save  the  bulwarks  of  freedom  and 
the  temples  of  God  from  threatened  overthrow  ? Make 
the  voice  of  Jehovah  Jesus  heard — “ hitherto  shalt  thou 
come,  but  no  farther.” 

Would  you  increase  the  moral  influence  of  the  country 
on  the  destinies  of  the  world,  and  through  the  ten  thou- 
sand filaments  connecting  it  with  other  nations  create  the 
vibrations  of  love  and  good  will  in  all  human  bosoms  ? 
Then  echo  the  glad  tidings  in  the  ear  of  every  American 
from  the  Aroostook  to  Mexico,  and  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific.  Or, 

Would  you  multiply  your  own  consolations,  and  send 
your  treasures  before  you  into  heaven,  and  secure  friends 
who  will  receive  you  to  everlasting  habitations  ? Then 
devote  the  gracious  gifts  of  God  to  your  country’s  evan- 
gelization. Spare  not.  Grudge  not.  Labor  earnestly. 
You  have  hold  on  the  same  enterprise  sustained  by  him 
who  commanded  the  Apostles  to  “ begin  at  Jerusalem.” 
Prosecute  it  to  the  end.  Heaven  hallows  it.  The  world 
feels  its  impulse.  And  ere  long,  its  results  will  blend  in 
the  completion  of  that  temple  whose  top  stone  will  be 
brought  forth  with  shoutings  of  Grace,  grace  unto  it. 

A word  more  in  conclusion.  “ Give  me  a place  where 
to  stand,  and  I will  throw  the  world  from  its  orbit,”  was 
the  vain  boast  of  the  ancient  philosopher.  “ Twelve 
men  were  sufficient  to  establish  Christianity,”  says  the 
so-called  philosopher  of  modern  days,  “ but  one  shall  suf- 


25 


fice  to  overthrow  it.”  Presumptuous  boasting  ! Blood 
and  carnage,  desolation  and  war  follow  its  utterance  ; but 
Christianity  lives,  escapes  unharmed  the  flood  of  waters 
poured  forth  to  swallow  her  up,  and  multiplies  her  blood- 
less victories.  She  has  a place  to  stand,  hard  by  the 
throne  of  God,  and  in  her  hand  a lever  that  lifts  the 
world.  She  plants  her  three  thousand  missionaries  on 
pagan  ground,  and  sustains  other  thousands  amid  her  own 
waste  places;  she  pours  forth  the  light  of  truth  from  hun- 
dreds of  piesscs,  and  gathers  millions  of  her  sons  and 
daughters  into  Sabbath  schools  ; she  disperses  the  oracles 
of  God  by  tens  of  millions  among  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
and  scatters  the  leaves  that  are  for  the  healing  of  the  na- 
tions, by  hundreds  of  millions  ; forswearing  unchaste 
alliances  with  the  principalities  and  powers  of  the  world, 
she  arrays  herself  calmly  against  war  and  oppression,  un- 
dermines thrones  of  despotism,  and  compels  tyranny  to 
bite  the  dust. 

Still,  says  the  enemy  in  his  wrath,  “ I will  pursue,  I 
will  overtake,  and  divide  the  spoil  ; ” — but,  the  wind  of 
heaven  blows,  the  sea  returns,  he  sinks  like  lead  in  the 
mighty  waters. 

Oceans  shall  be  drained,  the  strong  foundations  of  the 
earth  loosed,  the  sun  turned  into  darkness  and  the  moon 
into  blood,  and  all  the  elements  of  nature  thrown  back 
into  their  primitive  chaos,  sooner  than  the  moral  kingdom 
of  Jehovah  shall  be  shaken.  Omnipotence  must  be  de- 
throned before  the  triumphs  of  Zion  can  be  confounded. 
When  I see  the  church  of  God  borne  safely  in  an  ark  of 
gopher-wood  over  floods  that  drown  a world  filled  with 
violence,  and  again,  wending  its  way  on  dry  ground 
through  the  channels  of  the  deep ; when  I see  the  hearts 
of  kings  turned  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned,  the 
mouths  of  lions  stopped,  the  violence  of  fire  quenched, 
and  armies  of  aliens  turned  to  flight,  and  then  listen  to 
the  great  voice  out  of  heaven,  saying,  “ Behold ! the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with 
4 


26 


them,  and  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes,”  I cannot 
doubt  the  continued  triumphs  of  the  church  over  the 
boundless  craft  and  furious  opposition  of  earth  and  hell. 
What  persecution  has  she  not  endured  in  by-gone  days, 
what  tortures  has  she  not  been  subjected  to,  at  what  time 
has  she  not  been  compelled  to  wade,  step  by  step,  through 
blood  flowing  from  her  own  veins,  constantly  inquiring, 
“ Lord  ! what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ? ” All  this  has 
humbled,  but  not  conquered  her.  Nay,  the  sword  and 
the  faggot,  the  dungeon  and  the  rack  have  proved  her 
life.  Her  foundations  are  laid  too  deep,  and  her  top-stone 
is  reared  too  high  to  be  reached  by  the  arms  of  man  or  of 
fallen  angels.  Never  have  the  heathen  raged,  nor  the 
kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  nor  the  rulers  taken 
counsel  together,  nor  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit  sent 
forth  his  armies  like  scorpions,  nor  the  great  red  dragon 
fought  with  Michael  and  his  angels  for  the  mastery  over 
the  world,  when  the  Lord  God  has  not  spoken  to  them  in 
his  wrath,  and  vexed  them  in  his  sore  displeasure,  and 
finally  broken  them  with  a rod  of  iron,  and  dashed  them 
in  pieces  as  a potter’s  vessel.  And  ere  long,  when  the 
trump  of  the  seventh  angel  shall  sound,  great  voices  shall 
be  heard  in  heaven,  saying,  “ The  kingdoms  of  this  world 
are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ,  and 
He  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.” 

In  the  prospect  of  such  a consummation,  who  rejoices 
not ! But  to  hasten  it  in  its  time  we  have  much  to  do. 
The  relations  and  claims  of  our  country  determine  the 
sphere  of  our  activity.  The  vastness  of  its  extent  and 
capabilities,  the  peculiar  character  of  its  present  and  pro- 
spective population,  its  wide  destitutions,  its  multiform 
religions,  its  Gorgon  infidelity  and  blaspheming  atheism, 
with  its  rampant  vices,  and  atrocious  crimes,  its  intimate 
connections  with  other  nations,  and  its  mighty  influence 
for  good  or  ill  over  the  world,  according  to  the  spirit  that 
pervades  its  bosom,  through  the  channels  of  learning, 
commerce,  and  quenchless  enterprise — all  distinctly  an- 


27 


nounce  our  duty  to  publish  salvation,”  and  say  to 
every  city,  hamlet  and  individual  of  the  land,  “Jehovah 
reigns.” 

• Would  you  then,  brethren,  bless  your  country  and  the 
world  ? Rise  to  labor,  and  lead  forth  the  streams  of 
salvation,  and  invite  every  man  who  claims  a common 
birthright  here,  to  come  to  the  waters — to  come,  and 
drink,  and  drink  again,  without  money  and  without  price. 
So  shall  our  American  Zion  become  an  eternal  excel- 
lency— joy  shall  fill  her  sanctuaries,  glory  shall  cover  her 
palaces,  and  her  righteousness  shall  spring  forth  before  all 
nations. 


“ O thou, 

Whose  kingdom  shall  extend, 

Till  earth  like  heaven,  thy  name  shall  fill, 
And  men  like  a lgels  do  thy  will ; 

Shine  on  our  path,  in  mercy  shine, 
Prosper  our  work,  and  make  it  thine.” 


